Goal Setting: Rules and Mistakes

When a person does not know which pier he is heading towards, not a single wind will be favorable for him.

Seneca

If a ladder is placed against the wrong wall, every step we take on it will take us to the wrong place.

Stephen R. Covey

Try to get what you love, otherwise you will have to love what you got.

B. Shaw

You should set two goals for yourself in life. The first goal is to achieve what you have been striving for. The second goal is the ability to enjoy what has been achieved. Only the wisest representatives of humanity are capable of achieving the second goal.

L. Smith

Here's the best advice you can give to young people: "Find something you love to do, and then find someone who will pay you for it."

K. Whitehorn

SMART - technology of correct goal setting

Technology SMART sets the requirements that must be adhered to when formulating goals. The name of the technology is an abbreviation made up of the first letters English words, naming the corresponding quality criteria for goals:

– S (specific) – specific: each goal must be described as a clear, specific result;

– M (measurable) – measurable: the goal must be measurable using specific indicators and standard measurement procedures;

– A (assignable) – significant, consistent: the goal must be non-random, justified, important for a person or organization;

– R (realistic) – achievable: the goal must be realistic, achievable in principle;

– T (time related) – time-oriented: the goal must be clearly defined in time, there must be specific deadlines (and milestones) for its achievement.

Procedure for checking or setting goals using the system SMART could be as follows:

– a list of possible goals is written and a specification of the result is carried out (its exact description) ( S );

– each of the goals is justified, the person evaluates the significance of each goal for his activity, and for this purpose separate criteria can be developed for assessing the importance of goals (for example, on a 10-point scale) ( A );

– a person predicts and evaluates the degree of achievability of goals ( R ), up to the use of numerical estimates of the probability of achieving goals, various coefficients of achievability (for example, also on a 10-point scale), etc.;

– for each of the goals, several (3 – 5) criteria for measuring and monitoring achievement are selected ( M ). It is important that these criteria for measuring intermediate results are sufficiently convenient. One common criterion for goal measurability is financial indicators;

– for the selected goals, the exact time frame for their achievement is indicated ( T ), then a plan is written that highlights intermediate stages of achieving goals.

The complete procedure for assessing and setting goals using the system SMART operates with an excessive number of goals, gradually discarding at each stage of goal setting the goals that received the lowest or most negative ratings.

Thus, at the first stage, goals that cannot be converted into a specific result are discarded; at the second stage, goals that are insignificant for human activity are reduced; in the third – “unattainable” goals (those with a high level of risk, requiring large resource costs, etc.); at the fourth stage, goals are excluded whose feasibility is difficult or impossible to control. At the last, fifth, stage of goal setting, a small number of “good” goals remain (usually 5 – 7) and a kind of transition occurs from strategic (long-term) goal setting to current (short-term) planning.

Example of application of SMART technology .

Let the goal initially be formulated as:

« I want to write a book».

The first point is specificity. In this example it is missing. Then you should ask yourself the question: “What kind of book do I want to write” or “What will my book be about?”

Let's say I decide that I want to write a romance novel. The wording of the goal has changed slightly: “ I want to write love story ».

However, how big will my novel be? Maybe it will short story about the love of a guy for a girl, or maybe a work similar to Romeo and Juliet. Let's say this will be a work of no less than 500 pages.

Then: " I want to write a romance novel, no less than 500 pages».

Is it achievable? this goal? If I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, then most likely this task will not seem so difficult to me. If I just write often, then the task becomes a little more difficult. If I have not been writing for a long time, for example, working as an accountant, then this task will seem difficult to me. Therefore, you should immediately decide whether this goal is feasible for you or whether you can set another, say, short-term goal that will help you increase the likelihood of achieving this goal. If it is decided that the goal is feasible, then it is important to take all these considerations into account when determining the time frame for achieving the goal.

The next point is how realistic this goal is. Nowadays, publishing your own book is not a problem, so we can safely say that the goal is quite realistic. The question of readers is not taken into account in this formulation.

And last but not least: time frames. If I give myself a specific time frame, I can properly plan for that goal and achieve it accordingly. How long does it take to write a 500 page novel? For example: “I think that 3 years is a completely acceptable period.”

So, the final result of correctly setting a goal:

« I will write a romance novel of no less than 500 pages in three years, that is, before xx.xx.xxxx ».

Handout for identifying and analyzing problems in goal setting

Initial position:

Difficulties identified:

Adjusted position:

Conclusions based on the results of the work:

Note! Include this sheet in the report on the formation of a system of personal goals!

It has long been noted: when transmitting information, its meaning is often distorted, since the same set of information is perceived different people differently. The root of misunderstanding (when the seemingly completely obvious is not followed or ignored) between the manager and subordinates lies precisely in this: in the inability of people to evaluate the same situation in the same way. Several goal-setting techniques are designed to reduce the level of such misunderstanding.

The most famous and widespread is the use of so-called SMART criteria that goals must meet.

The abbreviation SMART stands for as follows:

Specific - specific,
Measurable - measurable,
Attainable - achievable,
Relevant - significant,
Time-bounded - designated in time.

Thus, a smart goal must be specific, measurable, meaningful, achievable and time-bound.

Specificity means that the result of goal formulation is the answer to the question “what to do?” When setting a goal, there should be no words that do not carry a semantic load (optimal, worthy, etc.). The goal must be formulated in such a way that employees cannot interpret it in their own way.

Measurability presupposes the presence of criteria that will determine the degree to which the goal has been achieved. If we're talking about about quantitative measurability, you need to operate with numbers; if about qualitative measurability, a technical specification should be attached to the statement of the goal.

In practice, the following criteria are most often used:

• percentages or ratios (when planning and analysis of previous periods of the company’s activities are possible, for example, “increase in sales by 50%”);
• external standards (in situations where you need to get feedback “from the outside”: for example, if the goal is to increase the level of service, then the criterion is the presence of positive customer reviews);
• frequency of the event (for example, a criterion for the success of an employee’s work can be the repeated contact of clients);
• average indicators (for example, if the goal is to maintain operational efficiency, standards of similar industries in the industry, quality standards of other companies, etc. are often used as a standard of comparison);
• time (when you need to get the result in certain period, for example - increase sales by 50% per year);
• prohibitions (specific criterion: if, for example, the goal is to minimize defects, then a limit percentage is set);
• compliance with corporate standards (if the company has standards for performing work, then the criterion is performing the work in accordance with the regulatory document);
• approval from management (if a criterion is established - management must approve the results of the work, then subordinates will strive for feedback from the boss in the process of its implementation. An example of setting a task: develop a project in two weeks. The criterion is “approve with me”).

To ensure that goals are achievable, the manager must take into account the professional and personal qualities of his subordinates, without lowering the target “bar” and maintaining a fairly intense rhythm of work.

There are several ways to set this bar. The first is a gradual increase: the manager, having raised the “bar” a little, looks at whether the employee is prepared for higher requirements, and, focusing on the result obtained, moves the “bar” further or not. This option is suitable for beginners (it helps them understand what they are capable of), and sometimes for experienced ones who are not confident in themselves (it gives them the opportunity to gain confidence in their own abilities by completing increasingly complex tasks).

The second option is to set a goal that will require the employee to improve his work results, which are currently still far from his maximum capabilities. This is suitable for experienced professionals who do not want to stand out and are not looking for novelty. Thanks to this approach, they will not feel oppressed due to excessive demands and at the same time will be able to improve their performance.

The third option is that setting a goal will require a significant increase in performance, approaching the maximum capabilities. It is suitable for proactive and experienced employees who want to achieve promotion and are ready to work more intensely.

The fourth option is setting a goal that exceeds human capabilities. It is useful for the most ambitious employees.

The significance of a goal is determined by the answer to the question: is it important for achieving goals? high level? Having clearly formulated the answer, the manager will be able to correctly place emphasis when conveying the goal to the employee. For example, a person is tasked with making a report with statistics on sales of a product. If you do not explain why this report is needed (to create a portrait of a consumer, analyze sales dynamics, or for something else), then the manager risks receiving a document containing unnecessary or incomplete information. In addition, a subordinate will cope better with a task if he knows why it needs to be done. Therefore, when setting a goal, a leader must establish its connection with a higher-level goal.

The goal must also be related to a specific time frame - otherwise there is a risk that it will never be achieved. Therefore, when setting a goal, you need to determine the deadline, while taking into account that a formulation like “complete within 30 days” focuses more on the process than on the result. A more successful option in this case would be, for example, “provide the results by January 1.”

A way has been invented to make the company’s goals even “smarter” (SMARTER). Traditional SMART has been supplemented with two new criteria to increase the likelihood of achieving the goal, namely:

• Evaluated - the manager must evaluate each stage in achieving the goal, that is, provide feedback;
• Reviewed - the goal should be periodically reviewed and adjusted by the manager based on changes inside and outside the company, for example: in connection with the emergence of new technologies and the withering away of old ones, the emergence of a new market, changing consumer tastes, etc.

One minute management

By setting a goal for an employee and formulating a task, the manager has his own vision of the desired result. The employee develops his own idea of ​​the result, which may differ from the manager’s vision. This situation can be avoided by using feedback from the subordinate - making sure that he understood the task assigned to him the way the manager intended it.

Feedback can be implemented in various ways:

• detailed explanation of the task;
• a conversation with a subordinate, as a result of which he himself explains what, in his opinion, is required of him;
• monitoring the work process;
• intermediate reports from the subordinate on the degree of completion of the assigned task.

M. Winter, K. Blanchard and S. Johnson developed a feedback technology called “one minute management”. It consists of three parts:

• setting a “one minute goal”;
• “praise of one minute”;
• "one-minute criticism."

1. Setting a “one minute goal” is as follows: you need to determine goals and ways to achieve them, write down each goal on a separate sheet of paper, keeping it to 250 words, and voice the goal to your subordinate in one minute. In the future, the manager checks every day whether the goal is being achieved.

When setting a goal, a leader must use four techniques:

• conducting (the boss sets the goal himself, gives detailed instructions to the subordinate and controls the process of performing the work);
• training (goals are formulated together with subordinates, the manager offers them unfamiliar tasks and encourages them to independently evaluate their work);
• “seconding” (the manager provides the employee with the opportunity to independently formulate the goal and ways to achieve it, only supporting and, if necessary, guiding him;
• delegation (the subordinate has all the authority to achieve the goal and bears full responsibility for it).

2. “One minute praise.” Employees are required to provide detailed reports at the end of each week on the work done, successes and difficulties in achieving goals. This is another way for subordinates to analyze the situation and perhaps find new ways to solve problems. And for the manager - feedback from employees. In this case, it should serve as an instrument of praise, and not of pointing out shortcomings. Over 87% of employees improve their performance after praise, while 40–50% decrease their performance after a reprimand. Correct praise has its secrets:

• praise your subordinate immediately after you notice something positive in his work;
• say what exactly he did very well;
• prove it on specific examples that his successful work benefits the entire company;
• encourage the subordinate to continue in the same spirit;
• find words that will make the person feel your support.

3. “One minute reprimand.” If an employee deviates from the intended path while performing work, the manager must intervene and make a reprimand, while observing the following rules:

• respond to a subordinate’s mistake as soon as it is noticed;
• make a remark in private;
• criticize only once for one mistake;
• give the employee the opportunity to explain himself during the conversation;
• make a reprimand or reprimand only after checking the facts.

Correct reprimand consists of two stages.

On the first:

• tell what exactly the subordinate did wrong;
• make it clear what you think about this;
• pause for the subordinate to absorb the information.

At the second stage:

• remind the employee how much you appreciate him;
• let him know that this is the end of the reprimand and you will not return to this issue.

By following the rules of both praise and reprimand, the manager thereby supports the constructive behavior of employees. “One minute management” as a targeted management technology saves the manager’s time and motivates employees to creatively solve assigned problems.

How to check if a goal is SMART

Let's define that a goal is a result that needs to be achieved. In practice, goals are formed based on the assigned tasks. For example, enterprises operating in different sectors of the economy were assigned the following tasks by their owners:

1. Increase the profitability of the company.

2. Increase the level of customer service.

3. Improve the management skills of middle managers.

4. Reduce overall operating costs.

5. Expand your customer base.

6. Minimize the volume of defects and production waste.

These goals determine the direction of development, but are not SMART goals.

What is SMART really? To begin with, let us give examples of goals formulated by the managers of these enterprises based on the above tasks:

1. Reduce costs for unplanned work.

2. Provide feedback by ensuring that 80% of letters received from clients are answered within two days of receipt.

3. By the end of September 2006, agree, define and record in writing three specific tasks for each employee of the department.

4. Reduce transportation costs by 50% compared to the previous year (end of this month).

5. Find more clients.

6. By the end of the year (December 31, 2006), significantly reduce the volume of production waste.

Now let's see how well these goals meet the SMART criteria. The assessment results are presented in Table 1, where:

x - the goal does not meet this criterion;

v — the goal meets this criterion;

? — it’s difficult to say whether the goal meets this criterion.

Total Involvement

In the 50s, Peter Drucker formulated the essence of management in this way: management is not a passive response to external impulses, but the development of a company based on setting and achieving goals. He practically embodied his idea in the concept of management by objectives (MBO). At that time, managers focused primarily on processes and functions, and Drucker's view that management should begin with defining goals and only then move on to functions, processes and interactions was new and unusual.

The management by objectives process consists of the following stages:

1. Analysis of trends in the external environment.

2. Setting goals for the entire company.

In this case, it is necessary to determine what criteria to use in choosing goals and what resources the organization has.

3. Building a hierarchy of goals.

Goals are set for all divisions of the company so that their implementation leads to the achievement of common goals.

4. Setting individual goals.

Lastly, specific goals are formulated for each employee.

The meaning of MBO is the involvement of all company personnel in the processes of setting and achieving goals. That's why on at this stage Feedback from employees in the form of a conversation is mandatory.

Management by Objectives assumes that each employee is clear about his or her purpose and how it aligns with corporate goals, rather than simply following instructions from senior management. And managers of all departments or sectors are actively involved in setting the goals of their unit and are responsible for achieving them.

“An objective-based management system should provide focus,” says MBO proponent and Intel employee Andy Grove. Goals need to be formulated clearly and unambiguously, but there should not be many of them. Trying to focus on everyone at the same time, it is unlikely that you will be able to implement at least one.

Despite the obvious correctness of the concept of management by objectives, its implementation in many companies has not brought the expected results. This is explained by the fact that managers often apply only certain elements of this system, ignoring the rest (often such important ones as agreeing on goals).

In the early 90s, management gurus David Norton and Robert Kaplan developed a new management tool based on MBO, which was included in management theory called the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). It is designed to transform the company's strategy and mission into a system of interrelated indicators, as well as to communicate strategic goals to employees at all levels.

BSC is dedicated to providing the leader important information both financial and non-financial indicators, which gives an objective and comprehensive picture of the company’s position in the market. This is the main advantage of BSC over the MBO concept, which focuses only on financial performance.

From words to action

To achieve the stated goals, it is necessary to develop a condensed work plan, which must contain:

• a clearly and concisely formulated goal;
• indicators (mostly quantitative) by which it will be possible to determine whether the goal has been achieved;
• problems that are likely to arise;
• three to four main steps with a date for completion;
• the manager’s goals (so that subordinates understand what exactly the manager’s goal is related to their own goals).

After this, you need to think about ways to solve the problems identified in the work plan. For example, the head of the supply department sets a goal: to deliver all packages within the next day after they are received. Since personnel may experience difficulties when switching to a new system, resulting in missed deadlines, steps to train new procedures must be included in the work plan (see Table 1).

How to formulate a goal for a subordinate?

1. Identify the problems facing the company and your department. What processes need to be improved? What knowledge and development of what skills do employees need?
2. Analyze the tasks typically performed by the employee who needs to set the goal.
3. Decide on the desired goal and action to achieve it.
4. Justify the desirability of this action, evaluate its potential effectiveness, importance and consequences.
5. If necessary, reformulate the action so that it implies a clear desired result.
6. Consider a mechanism for evaluating performance results.
7. Determine the standards to which the work must meet. How can you determine that the work has been completed? What criteria will you rely on: quantitative, qualitative, speed, money?
8. If necessary, reformulate the desired action, supplementing it with achievability criteria.
9. Set a time frame for completing the work.
10. Determine intermediate deadlines.
11. Go through all the points again and make adjustments.
12. Bring the goal to the employee, ask if he understands it and how he evaluates it. If you are formulating a goal for yourself, ask your boss for his opinion.
13. If necessary, start all over again.

Goal setting and management by goals

How to implement MBO in practice? How to avoid mistakes when setting goals? What prevents them from achieving them? The author of the article gives detailed answers to these questions.

1. The goal must be specific.

2. The complexity of the tasks ranges from medium to high.

3. The employee must perceive the goal.

4. Subordinates receive information about their progress towards the goal through feedback.

5. A situation where an employee participates in setting goals is preferable to one where goals are assigned to him.

In practice, the management system is most often represented only by point 1: goals are set according to SMART principles, points 3, 4 and 5 are usually ignored, and point 2 is not considered at all.

Approaches (methods) in management evolve in the same way as organizations: they go through different stages - from the emergence of an idea, its development to bureaucratization, when the meaning of the idea is lost and only tools remain, the essence of which is not captured by the staff, and (due to the fact that standardize them 100% impossible) interpretations arise that distort the idea itself. Based on Locke's theory, which suggests that a person is motivated more by a goal than by the satisfaction of achieving it, Peter Drucker proposed a method of management by objectives that promotes the definition of goals for subordinates by mutual agreement between them and the leader.

This is what P. Drucker’s plan for a “Manager’s Letter” to his boss, or, in other words, from a subordinate to his boss, looks like:

• The purpose of the boss’s work (as the subordinate sees it). The purpose of the subordinate’s work (as he sees it).
• The standards that a subordinate believes apply to the work he or she performs.
• Listing everything that the letter writer intends to do to achieve these goals, as well as the main obstacles to these goals in his departments.
• What else prevents you from achieving your goals?
• Which actions of the boss and other employees prevent the author of the letter from achieving his goals, and which ones help.

Such a letter will serve as the basis for a dialogue between the manager and subordinate, also called coordination of expectations. Now let's see how far we have gone from the origins of the theory.

In the worst execution, MBO looks like this: management develops an annual plan for the company, which includes 5-10 quantitative indicators, based on the principle “ask for more, because you will still get less” or “last year we had such and such growth , let’s increase it by this much.” Indicators are broken down and communicated to departments, and then to each employee. This is where the GIGO (garbage in - garbage out) principle comes into play. How could it be otherwise?

Typical errors, or Why the method does not work

1. Not there

This method is not suitable for all companies. It is ineffective if the system needs to quickly respond to changes in the environment, that is, it is not suitable for a proactive, innovative, changing business. By betting on MBO, people involved in such a business think that they are doing the right thing; and this is true, but only from the point of view of the internal goals of the organization. As a result, a false sense of well-being arises, which is fraught with loss of flexibility and adaptability. Researchers Stowe and Botter noted that a goal to “perform as best as possible” (worded in a very non-SMART manner) may encourage task adjustment (re-examining the problem), while setting a more specific goal seems to discourage such action.

2. Not then

At a certain stage of company development, at the formalization stage, this method is very effective. MBO does not work in conditions of chaos and organizational confusion. First of all, it is necessary to establish basic order, delineate functions, and determine the powers and responsibilities of personnel. Management by objectives works when the company's potential is analyzed, including its resources (material and intangible), and technologies are standardized.

3. Not with those

Locke's research shows that people who set higher goals for themselves (or accept high goals set by others) put in more effort and perform better.

However, not everyone is motivated by a “challenge”—far from it. This is explained by personal characteristics, as well as a person’s experience. There is evidence of four types of people: passive (30%): they have no goals and are active only when they are told what to do; reactive (50%): react to events, but do not initiate changes; dreamers (10%): their goals are undefined or unrealistic; active (10%): actively participate in building their lives. And only 3% of the latter set goals correctly. They are the most successful people. Everyone else needs to be trained, accompanied, controlled, motivated differently, etc.

In addition, there is a relationship between the complexity of the goal and the desired result. Performance will increase as the goal becomes more difficult (provided the individual perceives the goal and is able to achieve it) until a performance ceiling is reached. For individuals who are not committed to difficult-to-achieve goals, performance is either reduced or low.

4. Not so

A common stereotype: a person himself must determine the desired goal, increase its “focus and brightness,” make it more attractive by all means, and thanks to this feel the surge of energy necessary to overcome obstacles on the way to the goal. Does not work!

Even an adequately accepted idea of ​​MBO should not be formally implemented. Indeed, in the ideological aspect, this method involves a dialogue between a manager and a subordinate, when they set goals together, and ideally, an employee comes to the manager with his goals and plans for the future. In practice, fear is most often the main motivator in a management system by objectives. The tougher and more unrealistic the indicators, the greater the fear.

In addition, focusing too much on numbers for the sake of achieving short-term results creates both a certain work culture and morality - an understanding of what is important and what is not. Employees are too busy executing plans to think about product quality, customer needs, and necessary changes to work processes. And what’s even worse is that when numbers are put at the forefront, they begin to be falsified, falsified, manipulated, etc.

This approach will bear fruit if all indicators that affect the company’s performance are actually taken into account, opportunities are analyzed and only on their basis real, and not fictitious, goals are set. Otherwise, there is a feeling that goals were taken out of thin air, and this greatly demotivates the staff.

But as?

The main stages of the goal setting process are:

• Diagnostics. To determine the readiness of the organization and employees to set goals, many questions must be answered. Is management in the organization sufficiently structured? Are duties and responsibilities clearly demarcated? What management style prevails in the company? Are employees motivated and competent? Do managers have feedback skills? Are subordinates capable of complex tasks? Etc.
• Preparing staff to set goals by intensifying horizontal and vertical communication (communication between the manager and subordinates, between employees, on whose interaction the achievement of results depends); development of training programs aimed at developing the necessary competencies; clear planning.
• The choice of criteria that should be clear to both the manager and subordinates and serve as guidelines for achieving the goal.
• Interim check. Regular assessment of the results already achieved, on the basis of which the formulated goals can be adjusted.
• Final verification of the results obtained in achieving the set goals.

And yet, management is “scientific” creativity, that is, the creation of management approaches in your company based on knowledge, and not a copy of the experience of using this knowledge in other companies. Therefore, the so-called “management innovations,” as well as “proven approaches,” should be perceived through the prism of the needs of your business. To avoid stress and conflicts, do not get too carried away with management innovations. It’s better to first understand the essence of the method, its scientific foundations - then you will be protected from blindly following the universal advice of “management gurus.”

Common mistakes when setting goals

1. Ignoring the strategic goal

In many companies, attention is paid primarily to tactical (financial) goals, while strategic ones are often forgotten.

Examples of tactical goals:

• accelerate profit growth rates;
• increase profitability;
• increase cash flow.

But the financial future of the organization is ensured by strategic goals, and their setting and achievement require a significant investment of time and resources.

Examples of strategic goals:

• increase market share;
• improve the quality of products/services;
• take care of the company's reputation;
• increase the value of the company.

2. Negative goal statement

This very common mistake is dictated by the human tendency to respond to a problem by running away from it, rather than by eliminating the cause. But a correctly set goal should reflect movement towards the desired result, and not a desire to escape from the problem. Examples of negative goal statements:

• minimize risks in a certain area of ​​the company’s activities;
• reduce the number of late arrivals to work;
• reduce the number of complaints.

With such goal setting, there arises a large number of prohibitions, which often hinders the initiative of employees. As a result, they are afraid to act, lest they incur the wrath of their leader. To avoid negative consequences Positive formulations will help, offering as a goal a desirable prospect for the company, towards which it should strive. If the above examples of goals are presented as positive, we get something like this:

• develop and apply a risk management procedure;
• allocate a vehicle for transportation of employees;
• improve the quality of products.

3. Vague goal statement

We often find goal formulations like “increase efficiency”, “establish labor discipline", "become the best on the market", etc. The minutes of a meeting of one company also recorded the following goal: “In connection with the branching of the structure, to organize clearer interaction between divisions.” These are unattainable goals. For example, the director of the company set a goal - to establish a rapid exchange of information between the commercial and logistics departments. After some time, their superiors reported that the goal had been achieved. When the director wanted to find out what the exchange of information was about, it turned out that people simply began to communicate more often.

The manager expected a different result, but since the goal did not meet the SMART criteria (in particular, the criterion for assessing its achievement was not defined), the subordinates did not know what exactly was expected of them. The director needed to formulate a goal, for example, this way: to establish a rapid exchange of information between the commercial department and the logistics department by providing each other with weekly reports on the work done in the following form (list what indicators each department should include in its report).

4. Partial application of the concept of management by objectives

As the study shows, the majority of managers consider management by objectives as a tool for assessing personnel, and only 16.6% know that MBO is intended primarily to harmonize company goals at various levels.

However, ignoring any aspect of MBO leads to the fact that all efforts aimed at its implementation are useless.

The reasons for this are as follows:

• lower level goals are not clearly formulated;
• these goals do not reflect the needs of the company (not related to higher-level goals);
• Responsible persons for each area of ​​work have not been assigned.

To eliminate these reasons, the head of the company must agree on the goals for the departments with their leaders, and the practice of individually setting goals and communicating them to performers must be eradicated.

5. Officially stated goals do not correspond to reality.

There are often situations when a manager, having officially declared certain goals, ignores them when making management decisions. For example, a company may define the goal of its work as follows: “We must love our client,” but the head of one of its departments is not even going to respond to incoming complaints...

Every person in his life should not only have goals, but strive to achieve them. If a person does not have clear goals or does not strive to achieve them, he loses the meaning of life. This is what many sages argued in ancient times, and now almost everyone is inclined to the truth of these judgments. modern psychologists. In any job, setting tasks is also very important. Including to increase sales efficiency, it is imperative to understand why and why we are doing this. Understanding why we need this and what we want to achieve will allow us to choose a shorter and more rational path to achieve the desired result.

I suggest you get acquainted with one of the most popular techniques, setting goals -SMART. The name is an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of the words: Specific (specific), Measurable (measurable), Ambition (attainable), Real (real), Timed (time-limited). Let's take a closer look at what criteria the goal must meet:

1. Specific — concreteness. Set goals for yourself, using as much specificity as possible.
2. Measurable the goal set must have a measurable value, otherwise we will not be able to evaluate, measure and evaluate the achieved result.
3. Ambition It is recommended to raise the goals a little, because... if you strive for more, you will achieve more. However, the expected results, taking into account the surrounding factors, should be achievable.
4. Real – Although ambitious, your goal must be realistic to achieve. There is no point in setting goals that, for one reason or another, are impossible to achieve.
5. Timed – any goal must be limited in time, i.e. Always determine the time frame within which you must complete the task.

Now knowing SMART criteria, let's look at an example, how to formulate a goal:

I want to buy a black car for commuting to work in the near future.

The same goal, formed according to SMART characteristics:

I need to buy a new car, made in Japan, for commuting to work before the end of March. It should be black, economical, maneuverable, with an automatic transmission, cheap to maintain and in the price range from 15 to 20 thousand USD.

As you can see, thanks to this technique, a vague goal takes on a clearer outline. I also recommend that after you formulate a problem, come up with at least three ways to solve it and analyze them from a rational point of view. Next, choose the most optimal one. When choosing a method to solve a problem, consider material cost, efficiency, time consumption and feasibility. Also, when setting a goal, it is recommended to create intermediate tasks to enable preliminary assessment and analysis of results at different stages. For clarity, let’s return to the example with the task of purchasing a car and set intermediate goals:

1. Enroll in a driving school by the end of the week

2. Learn how to drive a car and learn the rules of the road within two months.

3. Obtain a driving license by the end of November.

5. Knowing the properties of the car I need, find out as much information as possible and decide on the brand of the future car before March 20.

Thus, to achieve the global goal, we perform intermediate tasks. With the help of such divisions, it will be easier for us to control the duration in time and the effectiveness of solving each stage of problems. You can use the SMART goal setting method not only in sales, but also in any field to formulate and achieve your goals.

• How to set goals according to the SMART system.
• How to apply the SMART goal technique in a company.
• How to implement SMART goals in a company.

SMART goals– the most common method of setting goals in goal setting. However, not everyone knows how to use it in practice.

The SMART methodology, proposed by Peter Drucker, is named after the first letters of the English words specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

The concept of management by objectives (MBO), within which the SMART principles emerged, has already become a classic of international management. It is based on the leader’s ability to set “smart” goals for his subordinates and himself ( strategic management, in turn, assumes a view from above, when the holistic picture is more important than individual numbers. A tool that allows you to build a holistic picture is the company’s strategic map. The tool was developed within the framework of the theory of the balanced scorecard; you can learn how to create such a map and use it by attending the CEO School).

SMART:

S– specific, significant, stretching - specific, significant. This means that goal setting must be specific and clear. “Transparency” is determined by an unambiguous perception by all parties. If you set goals, they must be clear and expressed as precisely as possible. When setting goals, you cannot use globality and uncertainty. Specific goals will tell your employee:

• your expectations from his activities;
• deadlines for completing assigned tasks;
• exact result.

Concretization will be able to accurately assess intermediate successes that bring the final goals closer to completion. Continuation of each ultimate goal- this is a super task. If there is no super task, even the immediate goal will be unattainable. In fact, this is an additional motive.

M– measurable, meaningful, motivational - measurable, significant, motivating. The result of achieving the goal must be measurable, and measurability must be applied not only to the final result, but also to the intermediate one. What good is a goal if there is no way to evaluate it? If the goal is immeasurable, it will be impossible to evaluate its achievement. What about the employees? They won't be motivated to move forward unless they have a concrete measure of their success.

A– attainable, agreed upon, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented - achievable, agreed upon, oriented towards specific actions. It is important not to forget about the adequacy of the set goal and to be sure that this goal is definitely achievable by assessing resources and various influencing factors. Each goal should be achievable for any employee and, as a result, the entire company. The most optimal are goals that require effort when fulfilled, but are not prohibitive. Goals that are too high and too easy lose their value and employees will neglect them.

R– realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented - realistic, relevant, useful and focused on specific results. Goals must always be relevant and not conflict with other goals and priorities of the organization. Purpose is one of the key tools for making your company's mission a reality. Everyone knows Pareto's law, which states that 80% of the results are achieved with 20% of the effort, and the remaining 20% ​​of the result will require 80% of the effort. Similarly, we can say that 20% of the product provides 80% of the revenue, and the main thing here is to see these 20% of the product.

T– time-based, timely, tangible, trackable - for a certain period, timely, trackable. The deadline for completing a goal is a key component of goal setting. The term may be defined by a specific date or period. Each destination is like a train, it has its own time of departure, arrival and duration of the trip. Limiting your goal in time will help you focus on completing it on time. Goals without deadlines will most often fail due to everyday rush jobs.

Examples of what SMART goal setting should look like

1. Start earning 200,000 rubles monthly at your current job by March 1, 2018.
2. Apply to the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University on a budget in 2018.
3. Pass the exam for a category B driver's license before May 31, 2018.
4. Lose 10 kg by July 1, 2018.
5. Spend 3 weeks in Rome, in a 5-star hotel in the city center from May 1 to May 20, 2018.
6. Complete the free training “Personal Growth” before August 31, 2018.
7. Learn 100 English words in 30 days.
8. Read all articles by the General Director before November 20, 2018.

These are approximate goals that are correctly set and meet all of the above criteria.

How to use SMART to improve business processes

The SMART method allows you to identify bottlenecks in business processes, improve operational efficiency and select effective methods analysis. How to build a strategy according to the SMART principle, read the article electronic journal"CEO".

How to formulate a goal using the SMART technique

1. To achieve any goal, it is important to first form an intention. Preferably in writing. To correctly formulate a goal, apply the SMART method to your intention. Thus, you will immediately see those hidden problems that may prevent your intention from coming true.
2. Formulation of goals using the SMART method - The best way concentrate on your intention. That is, you will already automatically tune in to the required wave. As a result, you will not only figure out a way to achieve your goal, but also “attract” all the necessary events, and in some cases, achieve your goals without doing anything to achieve them.
3. By using specificity and a way to measure achievement, you will develop a better understanding of what you really want. This approach will help you identify your goals and get rid of imposed ones.
4. By checking your goal for realism, you will certainly realize and understand the connection of this goal with your other goals, the goals of loved ones, etc.
5. The SMART method is also applicable to advice from other people, to any recommendations, suggestions, etc. (for example, at a meeting)
6. When there are many goals, SMART will help you weed out “bad” goals and work only with “good” ones.

Expert opinion

Vladimir Larionov, CEO Audi Center Varshavka company, Moscow

Our company uses the SMART methodology when setting goals. I will dwell in more detail on the main components of this technique:

Letter S. Our goal is to make money.

Letter M. For each profit center, we clearly define how much money it should bring into the general treasury and what needs to be done for this. For example, the goal of the sales department is to earn a certain amount by selling a certain number of cars. There are divisions that do not sell anything themselves, but without them the business process is unthinkable (for example, the client department). The employees of such departments are given their own goal, also expressed in numbers. For example, we measure customer satisfaction through surveys, so the goal of the customer department is to achieve the target level of satisfaction.

Letter A. Goals must be achievable. Achievable does not mean underestimated - it is better to raise the bar. I have a saying: “If you go on the mat against a heavier opponent, maybe you’ll beat him, maybe you won’t. And if you don’t come out, you’ll never put it down.” It is very important to monitor the achievement of intermediate indicators. If we see that someone is not following the plan, the task of all departments is to help him. For example, several years ago we were in danger of disrupting our sales plan due to the lack of new cars of certain models in the manufacturer’s warehouses. Nevertheless, the company found a way out: we began to manage demand, trying to sell cars of those models that were in stock and stimulate production orders for models in short supply. In general, do everything to avoid losing our precious clients due to problems that arise.

Letter R. The goals of specific departments must be related to the overall goal of the company. For example, the main task of the transport department is to maintain a fleet of test and replacement vehicles in good condition. On the other hand, replacement cars help us earn money - if we have free cars, we offer them for rent to clients.

Letter T. Achieving a goal must be limited to a time frame (month, quarter, year, etc.).

Examples of achieving goals using the Kaizen method

There is another simple way to achieve a complex goal - you need to go towards it in very small but regular steps. The method is called "kaizen". The editors of the General Director magazine gave 4 examples of achieving goals using this method.

When are SMART goals appropriate and when are they not?

1.The date of achievement of the result must be updated. There is no point in long-term planning according to SMART, since the situation can change dramatically if you set irrelevant goals before reaching the deadlines. As an example, the case when a person has “seven Fridays a week.”

2. If, in your situation, the result is not important, but only the vector of movement and its direction, the full use of SMART becomes impossible.

3. The SMART method is always aimed at taking some action in order to achieve your goals. If you understand that actions will not be taken to achieve the goal, the method loses its effectiveness.

4. Spontaneous planning is much more suitable for many employees. We will discuss below how SMART goals help prevent conflicts in companies.​

14 tips on how to set and achieve goals

The SMART approach is primarily used by large and technological companies. The larger the organization, the more difficult it is to monitor work individual employee. SMART allows you to control the work of even a large team. If employees have to perform the same type of tasks, it makes sense to set an algorithm of actions using SMART principles, so as not to have to explain everything all over again each time. There is only one limitation: it makes sense to write an algorithm only for fairly simple problems with a clear result in advance.

SMART will allow you to honestly evaluate the results of each employee online. Achieving specific goals is the most understandable criterion when calculating remuneration. The average rate of completion of assigned tasks according to the SMART methodology usually ranges from 80–90%; if it decreases to 50% or falls even lower, then the employee’s work should be considered ineffective. The remuneration is calculated in accordance with it.

The effect of implementing the SMART methodology is compared to turning on the light in a dark room: in an instant it becomes clear who is doing what and how useful each employee is to the company.

SMART goals for subordinates helped resolve disputes with superiors

Kirill Goncharov, Head of Sales Department, Oy-li, Moscow

I'll tell you my practical case. I held the position of Deputy Director for Development at management company banking and construction group. The head of the marketing department constantly argued with me. For example, I said: “The other day I heard about the launch of a new promotion by our competitors (partners, etc.). Maybe we can introduce this experience here too?” Most often, the response I received was indignation and protests. Of course, I realized that those promotions that are carried out, for example, by plumbing stores are not suitable for our business, but I did not agree with the marketing plan, which consisted of the same events - exhibitions and publications - from month to month. I began to take a different approach, setting tasks in a directive manner: “I ask you to prepare a set of measures aimed at increasing sales. I’m waiting for an action plan and budget calculation by such and such a date. I understand that you think that everything doesn’t work, so offer me something that will work.” The head of the marketing department did not like such tasks and I had to replace her.

When a similar situation arose in my practice for the first time, I was worried and wondered where my mistake was. But then I found a solution to this problem. I check each of my tasks according to SMART and make sure that the performer fully understands it.

How to implement SMART goals in a company

SMART can be purchased as a product – a computer program that is installed on employees’ PCs. In this case, each employee has a personal plan with deadlines for completing individual tasks and their cost. At any time, the manager can check the degree of readiness of a particular job, count the number of employee working hours, the number of delays, and errors. If there are several performers, then you can control, for example, how long a document was in the possession of each participant in the process, who delayed the work. When purchasing such a program, be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort describing the work goals of each employee. Entrust this to HR specialists based on job descriptions.

SMART as a management technology can be used by any manager without restrictions: when giving the next task to a subordinate, check with the principles of goal setting described above. Remember that work is organized most effectively if the employee sets tasks for himself, and you only approve them.

• Personnel assessment criteria that will give the best results

The practitioner tells

Ruslan Aliev, General Director of CJSC Capital Reinsurance, Moscow

We plan the company's activities based on the concept of target management. We start by defining global business goals and fix them in the company’s strategic development plan. Next, we describe specific goals for the coming year. They are reflected in the operational plan.

Operational planning is a serious undertaking: the entire activity of the company, including budgetary indicators and the motivation system, depends on the quality of its implementation.

We consider the ability to correctly set goals to be a key managerial skill. To achieve the desired result from subordinates, you should avoid vague tasks with the wording “improve” or “improve” something. It is very important to set goals together with the employee and provide him with the opportunity to communicate with management based on the results of the work done. Finally, goals should be set “for growth.” A high bar only increases motivation, if, of course, the employee is internally ready to achieve it.

To be able to assess staff performance as objectively as possible, we have developed key performance indicators (KPIs) for all positions. The required level can only be achieved if the employee copes well with the tasks of the operational plan. Key indicators include both quantitative (monetary) and qualitative (non-monetary). Each category of employees has its own priority areas of work. The corresponding indicators are more important when assessing their activities and are more reflected in income. Thus, for selling departments, the most important thing is financial indicators and monetary efficiency, for supporting ones (HR department, lawyers, financiers) - quality indicators related to the organization and support of business processes.

SMART goals concept- An extremely useful everyday tool in management practice.

The essence of setting goals according to the SMART principle

The goal defined by SMART– principles means that the goal should be:

• S specific
• M easurable (measurable)
• A ttainable
• R elevant (appropriate)
• T ime-bound (time-bound)

Practical use

Representation of the goal in the form SMART actually allows you to formulate the basis of an action plan to achieve it. Let's say there is a problem - insufficient income of the company. We can increase revenues, for example, by increasing turnover.

But the wording " increase sales", in terms of concept SMART, is not the goal. First we must make a goal specific And measurable so that everyone can clearly understand and measure it. If the goal is not measurable, how will we evaluate whether we have achieved it or not? In our example, the following formulation might turn out:

Triple the sales of the XXX product line

Now let's see achievable Is this the goal? Typically, a feasibility analysis involves two aspects:

• reachability taking into account own capabilities,
• achievability taking into account the influence of the external environment.

Let’s say that after analysis we have somewhat moderated our appetites:

Double the sales of the XXX product line

Let's check relevance this goal. Will this goal actually lead to a solution to the problem (increasing company revenue)? Will achieving this goal lead to the curtailment of other (possibly profitable) areas? Does this goal align with the company's strategic goals?

If the goal appropriate, remains only define it in time. Otherwise, we will demonstrate that for us the process is more important than the result, and measurability the goal loses its meaning.

We get the following formulation SMART-goals:

So the concept SMART-goals helps in formulating practical and achievable goals. There are other uses for it. Applying this tool to existing goals allows you to instantly see their “gaps”. If your employee tells you, “We need to increase the productivity of our department employees,” applying the principle SMART immediately generates questions:

• S: What is employee productivity in our case?
• M: How is labor productivity measured in our case?
• S: What should labor productivity be to solve the problems facing the department?
• A: Do we have the resources (opportunities) to increase labor productivity?
• R: Will increased productivity lead to mass layoffs or other undesirable consequences?
• T: By what time should we achieve the desired productivity?

Examples of successful and unsuccessful goals

"NON-GOALS":

• Work better
• Increase labor productivity
• Work according to plan
• Sell ​​more
• Provide quality service to consumers
• Motivate staff

ALMOST GOALS:

• Increase brand awareness to 25%
• Increase customer satisfaction over the coming quarter
• Ensure response to customer requests within 24 hours from the moment the application is received
• Capture 100% of the city's diaper market by 2012

GOALS:

• Bring the turnover rate of technical personnel to 10% by the beginning of 2011
• Introduce the Mystery Shopping program by May 1 current year
• Ensure monthly turnover in the meat sector in the amount of 5 million rubles by June 1.
• By December 20, formulate a program for celebrating the New Year within the allocated budget of 100 thousand rubles.

Additional interpretations/notations

First SMART- Goal setting criteria were proposed by Peter Drucker in his work “The Practice of Management” in 1954. Since then the concept SMART gained wide popularity and massive attempts were made at other “readings” SMART. Examples different transcripts are given below.

		Specific, precise, definite
		Significant, important
		Tense, expanding
		Measurable
		Significant
		Motivating
		Achievable, accessible
		Reachable, reachable
		Agreed
		Ambitious
		Acceptable, suitable
		Action-oriented
		Realistic, practical
		Results-oriented
		Significant, relevant, important, justified, relevant
		Reasonable, rational
		Useful, worthwhile
		Resourced
	Time-bound, Time-base, Timely	Defined in time
		Tangible, tangible
		Tracked

You can choose the notation that is adequate to the specifics of your activity.